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Fighting the Bias of the ‘Voice of San Diego’

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by Larry Remer

 How would you feel if you were a baseball player in the World Series and you found out that the first base umpire was on the payroll of the other team?

That’s kind of how I feel about the Voice of San Diego’s coverage of Proposition Z.

I am running the Yes on Prop. Z campaign; and for months I’ve sparred with reporters and editors from ‘Voice of San Diego’ about the negative slant of their coverage. And they just parried back and defended what they’d written, as reporters usually do when campaigns and public agencies complain their stories.   [Read more…]

Debunked: 6 Lies That Biotech and Big Food Are Telling Voters About Prop 37

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By Katherine Paul, Ronnie Cummins / AlterNet

Since Oct. 1, Monsanto and the rest of the Biotech and Big Food gang have been pounding the California airwaves with nearly $36 million worth of boldface lies and twisted truths.

Their goal? Misinform and confuse California voters into believing they’d be better off not knowing what pesticide-makers are hiding in their foods, than they would be if food manufacturers had to label genetically modified foods.

The ads are having an impact. After enjoying a 26-point lead for the past six months, the YES on 37 campaign has dropped 19 points in the polls.

But the YES team is fighting back, calling out the lies. And the liars.   [Read more…]

10 Filthy-Rich, Tax-Dodging Hypocrites Pushing Disastrous Austerity on America

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Alternet / By Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger / Oct. 26, 2012

Brace yourself for one of the most aggressive corporate lobbying campaigns of all time. And one of the most hypocritical.

“Fix the Debt” is a coalition of more than 80 CEOs who claim they know best how to deal with our nation’s fiscal challenges. The group boasts a $60 million budget just for the initial phase of a massive media and lobbying campaign.

The irony is that CEOs in the coalition’s leadership have been major contributors to the national debt they now claim to know how to fix. These are guys who’ve mastered every tax-dodging trick in the book. And now that they’ve boosted their corporate profits by draining the public treasury, how do they propose we put our fiscal house back in order? By squeezing programs for the poor and elderly, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: Día de los Muertos, We Commemorate Our Dead

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By Brent E. Beltrán

 Every year on November 1st and 2nd we remember our dead. Give them food and things they appreciated while they were alive. We build altars in our homes. We share stories. Remember loved ones, family and friends, heroes and historical figures. We go to gravesites and clean tombstones and markers. Leave cempasúchils (marigolds) and sugar skulls. Maybe a little tequila if they liked a drink in their day. For the children we leave toys and candy.

November 1 is Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) when deceased children are honored and November 2 is known as Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) where we pay tribute to adults who have passed away. These dates correspond with the Christian holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Soul’s Day. Though las días de los muertos were coopted by Christianity they are not Christian holidays or celebrations. Their history can be traced back thousands of years to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl.   [Read more…]

Pacific Beach or “Pee Beach”: Common Sense – You drink a lot, you pee a lot.

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By Sub-Committee

Thank God for the recent rains (and I mean that, God) because Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach after 6 rainless months smelled like a dirty toilet. After the heavenly cleaning, the sidewalks are much brighter and even the scraped off vomit stains are slightly improved, and most of all it cut down on the underlying stench. It is not God’s fault that all the filth washed right down the storm drains 5,4,3,2,1 blocks to dump right on the beautiful sandy beaches of Pacific Beach, it is our fault.

Y’all understand that you shouldn’t really go swimming in the ocean after a rain because of unsanitary microbes, right? I would go so far as to say, don’t be touching the sand in the drain pipe areas either if you know what’s good for you and your children.

Welcome to Pacific Beach, or Pee Beach as we have begun calling it around here.   [Read more…]

San Diego Coastkeeper and SeaWorld: Is Something Fishy Going On?

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Editors Note: A recent exchange between the OB Rag and San Diego Coastkeeper about the environmental organizations’ relationship with SeaWorld is reprinted here. The article from the OB Rag is followed by the response from Coastkeeper. We think you’ll find the exchange illuminating. 

Something smells fishy. The other day we received a press release from San Diego Coastkeeper – actually, it was a joint press release, from them and from SeaWorld – talking about how they are both “teaming up” together to “keep Mission Bay beautiful”. They’re planning a “clean the Bay day” on October 27th – and volunteers will get prizes including passes to SeaWorld.

While we applaud any organization’s efforts to clean Mission Bay – heaven knows it needs it – something just doesn’t sit well with us on this announced partnership.   [Read more…]

Save Big Money: Get Your Dental Work Done in Tijuana

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I have been going to Tijuana for dental work for five years. In that time I’ve had two root canals, several crowns and an implant. I’ve also taken my two granddaughters down there for routine dental work a couple of times. In the process I’ve saved several thousand dollars and been completely pleased with the results.

There are probably a lot of good dentists in Tijuana and some bad ones. The problem for most people is knowing who to go to. People need referrals to good dentists so please feel free to comment on experiences that you’ve had with dentistry in Tijuana – both whom you’d recommend and who to stay away from. Personally, I would recommend the office I’ve been going to which is Baja Oral Center. There is a network of dentists there ranging from children’s dentistry to general dentistry to tooth implants. All the dentists speak perfect English so there is no language barrier. One call to Berniece, the receptionist, whose English also is great suffices to set up an appointment. By the way it’s a local call. They have a 619 area code. So that’s two barriers out of the way: language and referral. And did I mention that they’re very friendly and accommodating to your schedule?   [Read more…]

Romney’s Bain Capital To Send Nearly 200 High-Tech Jobs to China the Day Before the Election

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Alternet / By Joshua Holland

On the day before an election that’s supposed to hinge on jobs, taxes and the middle class, Bain Capital, the company Mitt Romney founded, will close the doors of a factory in Freeport, Illinois, and ship 170 good, high-tech jobs to China.

The employees of Sensata Technologies were forced to train their Chinese replacements, and the American flag that long flew over the factory was reportedly removed while the Chinese engineers were visiting the site. A group of workers have set up camp across from the factory — calling it “Bainport” — and some supporters have tried to block the trucks hauling equipment out of the plant. According to Dave Johnson, there have been several arrests.

Sensata workers have asked to meet with Mitt Romney and hoped to enlist his help keeping their jobs in the United States, but he has refused, instead remaining on the campaign trail where he speaks often about “getting tough” with China.   [Read more…]

Are We Headed for a Servant Economy?

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Jobs in the US are undergoing a huge transformation. People are being laid off from good paying jobs with benefits, and, to the extent they are finding new ones, they are being paid about half what they were at their previous job with no benefits. Most of the newly created jobs in the “promising” recent jobs report were part time or temporary jobs. The September Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report indicated that 114,000 jobs were added in September and that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.8%. This is good news to be sure, but the fact remains that the issue is more about the quality of jobs added than the actual number.

Half of all college graduates are not able to find work. The good jobs out there are only for elite students from elite institutions. Half of all graduates including graduates in science and engineering from universities like Harvard and Duke are going to work on Wall Street.

This is where the top talent is going, and they’re making big bucks – six figures to start plus signing bonuses. If you are just an average college student though from a run of the mill college, chances are the only job you will find is as a barrista at Starbucks or at the Apple genius bar. The Microsofts, Qualcomms, Googles and Intels are only hiring the top 1% or 2% from elite colleges.

The myth that with a college education you will be able to get a good paying job is being laid to rest.   [Read more…]

An Old Time Favorite: “Studio Diner”

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Almost a year ago I purchased a special coupon for the STUDIO DINER and, since it was one of my favorite restaurants, decided to ask one of my favorite people – Joe – to go with me and use it before it expired. And we had a grand time, because we had to spend $35 to benefit by the $25 discount.

I am surprised at how many people do not know about the Studio Diner. To quote their own page, “Wrapped in chrome, the diner is a welcome roadside stop. And, fittingly, it’s set on the lot of a working movie and TV studio, Stu Segall Productions. (Remember “Silk Stalkings” and “Renegade”? Currently filming “Terriers”.)

Decorated with “behind-the-scenes” movie-making equipment and serving comfort food with an upscale vibe, Studio Diner is fun for the senses.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Polticos Seek to Spin California Gasoline Price Spike

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While the increases in the price of gasoline in California are setting records, politicians of every stripe are looking for ways to gain an advantage with voters. The fact is that there is no magical solution to the crisis, which has consumers paying well over $5 a gallon in parts of the Golden State. A little fairy dust from the GOP’s free market wand isn’t going to solve the problem. Sen. Diane Feinstein’s letter to the Federal Trade Commission won’t help either.

Of course, if you’d like the smog to return and don’t mind the asthma and respiratory diseases associated with air pollution to increase, we could dump some of those environmental regulations the righties are always complaining about. Or we could find ways to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. And don’t hold your breath (pun intended) waiting for anyone to get busted for profiteering. Step inside to read all about it.   [Read more…]

Is Whole Foods Sincere About Its Support for Labeling Genetically Modified Foods?

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Alternet / By Ronnie Cummins / Oct. 4, 2012

After months of pressure from the organic community, including thousands of its customers, the leadership of Whole Foods Market on September 11 endorsed Proposition 37, the California Ballot Initiative to require mandatory labels on genetically engineered foods. But the endorsement came with “reservations” and inaccuracies. It also included the false claim that company policy precludes Whole Foods and its executives from providing much-needed financial support to Prop 37, a campaign that consumers – the very people who have made WFM and its executives wildly profitable – overwhelmingly support.

Is it possible that Whole Foods wants to ride the GMO labeling popularity wave while it quietly works behind the scenes to prevent Prop 37, or any other GMO labeling law, from passing? Could it be that a GMO labeling law – especially one like Prop 37 that prohibits the use of the word “natural” on any food containing GMOs – would cut too deeply into the company’s $9.8 billion in sales and almost $246 million in profits?   [Read more…]

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